Albert Mohler on Expository Preaching-Part 2

Recently, Southern Seminary Magazine published an article by Dr. Mohler on expository preaching. I found it most encouraging and thought I would share it with my readers.

Authentic expository preaching creates a sense of reverence among God’s people

The congregation that gathered before Ezra and the other preachers demonstrated a love and reverence for the Word of God (Nehemiah 8). When the book was read, the people stood up, an act that reveals their sense of expectancy as the Word was read and preached. Expository preaching both requires and eventually cultivates an attitude of reverence on the part of the congregation. Preaching is not a dialogue, but it does involve at least two parties – the preacher and the congregation. The congregation’s role in the preaching event is to hear, receive, and obey the Word of God. In so doing, the church demonstrates reverence for the preaching and teaching of the Bible and understands that the sermon brings the Word of Christ near to the congregation. This is true worship. Lacking reverence for the Word of God, many congregations are caught in a frantic quest for significance in worship.

Christians leave worship services asking each other, “Did you get anything out that?” Expository preaching demands a very different set of questions. Will I obey the Word of God? How must my thinking be realigned by Scripture? How must I change my behavior to be fully obedient to the Word? These questions reveal submission to the authority of God and reverence for the Bible as His Word. Likewise, the preacher must demonstrate his own reverence for God’s Word by dealing truthfully and responsibly with the text. He must not be flippant or casual, much less dismissive or disrespectful. Of this we can be certain – no congregation will revere the Bible more than the preacher does.